Egypt is negotiating with France €35m in new funding for Egypt’s agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the French ambassador to Egypt, Stephane Romatet, told Daily News Egypt on Tuesday.

Romatet added that, “we want to continue supporting Egyptian small farmers to strengthen their capacities, produce more quantities with high quality, and to reach other markets.”

Egyptian authorities have ambitious plans to develop the agriculture sector and France is a leading country in the fields of agriculture, food processing, and the dairy industry, the ambassador said in his speech, at the event that was organised by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Egypt (CCI Francaise en Egypte).

“We aim at building a sturdy partnership with Egypt in the field of agriculture, in coordination with the Association for the Development of International Trade for Agri-food Techniques and Products (ADEPTA), and other different partners,” the ambassador noted as he explained that there is much to be done to strengthen both countries in agricultural cooperation.

France will share its strong experience in the field of agriculture and related industries with the Egyptian side, the ambassador said, asserting, “we are completely ready to provide the Egyptian side with the needed funds to implement the country’s agriculture sector’ development plans. You can depend on us.”

The agriculture ministry is implementing plans that aim to develop Egypt’s livestock and dairy industry, Deputy Agriculture Minister of Animal Resources, Fisheries, and Poultry, Mona Mehrez, said during her speech at the conference.

“We follow scientific methods to continuously improve the genetic kinds of the animals in all the farms in Egypt in order to decrease the costs of production, in addition to import unique kinds of livestock,” Mehrez added.

The agriculture ministry set a plan in 5,000 villages to prevent animals from cross diseases, Mehrez stressed, noting that the programme has already started this year.

“The agriculture ministry plans to establish a developed data centre—Egypt’s livestock—with the aim of assisting the decision makers to closely identify all the details about the livestock in Egypt,” Mehrez said, asserting that the ministry is very open to ink new MoUs with France to develop this vital sector.